


loose lips sink ships

by lontradiction



Category: Original Work
Genre: Consent Issues, Dubious Consent, Dubious Ethics, Dubious Morality, M/M, Sex Pollen, Superheroes, Supervillains, literally!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-19 23:59:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17011623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lontradiction/pseuds/lontradiction
Summary: Asombro may have made a mistake. A small one, in the grand scheme of things! But now he needs some help, and while this really isn't how he imagined things with Revelation would go, he can't say no.





	loose lips sink ships

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wearestardust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearestardust/gifts).



Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t have set up an in-person recon mission to the new hydroponics lab without looking into it further. He knew people were going missing there. He can’t say he didn’t know the dangers. But he’s Asombro, right? In like a shadow, gone without a flicker. And he’s only been getting better as he practices. It’s not like illegal animal acts or gunrunning – plants are inanimate.

Well, usually they are.

He ducks under the approaching vine, using the instant it flies over him to take a quick jump through its shadow to the corner of the greenhouse. “Is this really necessary, Nightshade?” he calls out. The pitcher plant bearing down on him says yes. He shadowjumps again before it can swallow him, and it takes a bite out of some surprisingly neglected tomatoes instead.

“You don’t understand!” Nightshade roars, her floral armor opening ever further. “The citizens of this city think green produce is all they need to keep this world alive.” She goes on, but Asombro’s too busy making his way closer under the planters to pay much attention. Poisonous strains of common food aren’t that hard to figure out a plan for anyway.

His chances are looking pretty good when a long stem snags him from behind, pulling him up to dangle in the air by his legs. Its leaves waste no time in wrapping around him, making it a full-body binding. He looks around to get a better idea of the situation, but all he can really see is oversized purple flowers and glossy dark fruit. He’s pretty sure plants like this aren’t meant to be this big, but that’s supervillains for you. No subtlety.

“You think you’ve got me, huh?” he jeers, wiggling around in his leafy cocoon. “Well, you’ve forgotten something. If you wrap enough layers around something, it gets pretty _dark_!” Shadow bursts out around him, shredding his bonds. This has the unfortunate side effect of enabling gravity’s pull, but thankfully the flower he lands on is about as shock-absorbent as he expected.

The impact does send up a huge cloud of pollen, though, which is less than pleasant to inhale. The coughing keeps him busy enough that he doesn’t notice more vines crawling up his limbs until he’s picked up and held in front of Nightshade. “No,” she says, as the vines pull his limbs until they feel “ _now_ I’ve got you.”

Just then, a giant blast of light and heat hits the two of them from above. It weakens the vines around Asombro, but he’s able to grab on before he falls again. Looking up, he sees a familiar glowing figure rappelling through a melted hole in the glass. “Revelation!” he yells. “Glad you could make it!”

Revelation gives him a look that is just far enough away to be unreadable. “You really shouldn’t be having this much trouble. Nightshade’s hardly a major threat.”

“Hey!” Nightshade yells up from the floor. Her undignified position doesn’t lend her much credence, though.

“Yeah, yeah,” says Asombro, grinning tiredly. “So tell me – was this an independent target or did you hear I was investigating and come running?”

Revelation’s close enough to him now that he can see him rolling his eyes. “A corpse turned up with solanine poisoning. I don’t need _you_ to know what that means.”

“Well, I got the scoop first,” Asombro says. His head is spinning too much to come up with something clever. Has he really gotten that out of shape? “No need for massive property damage tonight, got it? Just a single arrest and some product recalls.”

“I hardly think an arrest is adequate for attempted genocide,” Revelation says, glaring down at Nightshade. “There’s still some people in this city I’d rather stay alive.” Before Asombro can say anything else, Revelation raises his hand and glowing shackles appear, pinning Nightshade to the ground. She screams in pain, only getting louder as her writhing brings her into contact with the glare.

Asombro’s eyes widen, then snap back to the source. “Revelation!” he yells. “Stop it!” Swinging himself back and forth, he leaps over to try to grab the rope and break the villain’s concentration. It… mostly works. He does hit the rope, and he does distract Revelation. He just hadn’t intended to do it by earning five feet worth of rope burn before stopping inches above him.

Revelation tosses his head, still staring down at Nightshade. “Make me.”

The burns in his hands don’t like the idea of moving any further down this rope and make their opinion very clear. Trying to hide his wince, Asombro says, “I’ve already fought a supervillain tonight, and I’m really liking the idea of being on the same side for once. You’re fully capable of restraining her without all the… burniness. Don’t make me fight you too.”

Especially given his current condition. Even the unburned parts of him are heating up, and his brain is only getting fuzzier. He is seriously going to need a nap when he gets home. Unbidden, a coughing fit almost breaks his grip on the rope.

Revelation looks up at him for a few moments, his expression one that Asombro either can’t recognize or is too out of it to read. “Fine.” Nightshade’s shackles cool to a deep brown, barely visible anymore. Returning his gaze to the rope, he starts feeding it back down. “Are you coming?”

The floor’s further down than he’d like, but Asombro doesn’t let it show. “And leave you alone to do whatever you please? Nah. I’m your chaperone tonight.” Struggling to get his feet far enough under him, he wraps the rope around them and starts to climb down. Halfway to the floor, though, an even worse bought of dizziness hits and his vision blacks out. He feels the rope slip away and has just enough time to think, _Well, that’s embarrassing_ , before he passes out.

\---

He wakes up on a very cold floor. Offensively cold. This floor should be a crime. It’s so cold that it takes a moment for him to realize he didn’t feel any impact when he hit the ground. That’s good, probably.

He tries to sit up before opening his eyes, which he realizes is a bad idea once he knocks into something that, thankfully, isn’t offensively cold.

He blinks, then looks up at what he hit. Revelation is sitting next to him, looking more than a little cross. “You’re heavy,” he says.

“Sorry?” Asombro says, grimacing. “And thank you, maybe? That sounds like an ‘I saved your dumb ass, Asombro.’”

Revelation blinks, a light flush just barely making its way onto his cheeks before he shakes his head. “Among the other parts of you. What the hell were you thinking?”

Asombro laughs, though it ends in coughing again. “Passing out doesn’t tend to coincide with thinking, dude.”

“Obviously.” Revelation leans over to lay a hand on Asombro’s forehead, and oh that feels nice. Warm. Soft. Not like this POS floor, which he has come to realize is plasticky, porous linoleum that feels like Satan’s asshole on his fingers. “You’re too hot.”

“Hell yeah I am,” Asombro says, but that makes Revelation take his hand away and no, no, he was using that. “No need to be envious; given how hot those light blasts are, you must be too.” He tries to tuck his head under Revelation’s other hand, but he takes that away too. Meanie.

“Will you stop?” Revelation snaps. “Just because you’re feverish doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take this seriously.”

Asombro giggles, finding his way into Revelation’s lap. He can’t take _that_ away! “Complain all you want, I’m never ever ever ever gonna stop.” Nuzzling into said lap, it turns out, makes it even better. “You’re not heavy. Well, maybe you are. But you’re also really soft.”

Revelation is properly flushing now, and it would make Asombro laugh again if Revelation hadn’t flinched back, taking both his lap and its neck support away. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Asombro opens his mouth to answer, but doesn’t even get a single word out before: “Don’t. Unless you can give me something that isn’t some kind of shitpost or solanine poisoning, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Aw, I thought you liked my banter,” Asombro said, pulling his face into an exaggerated pout. “Was it all a lie? All those moonlit meetings in corrupt corporate headquarters?” The idea is strangely painful, for a joke. He _likes_ Revelation. A nice break from murder. Similar targets. Fun-to-push buttons. Doesn’t Revelation like fighting him? “Are you cheating on me? I bet it’s Livewire. She’s _shocking_ , after all.”

Revelation’s jaw literally falls open. Hee. Still good buttons. “I-I – You’re impossible. You’ve got a high enough fever that you shouldn’t even be this _awake_ , and all you’re doing is making jokes.”

“It’s what I’m good for,” Asombro says. What had he said about being awake? He is kinda sleepy. “Should I go back to sleep? You should bring your lap back. That’s a good pillow. I can sleep on that.”

“N-no!” Revelation saysf. “Awake. Awake is good.” Asombro sighs. Figures. “What did she _do_ to you?”

He doesn’t want to use his _brain_ , that’s hard. “Dunno. Bunch of vines. Pitcher plant tried to eat me. Big purple flower got pollen _everywhere_. Have you ever breathed pollen? It sucks. You should come comfort me.” Yes. Comfort. He’s so cold. Whimpers escape and leave him shivering against the sucking tiles.

“You–“ Revelation starts, then shakes his head. “I checked all of the symptoms for solanine poisoning, but you’re barely lining up. Fevers, dizziness, dilated pupils; they’re all there, but they’re in _everything_.” He looks away, at a window Asombro can’t see. “Damn it. I should have just left you.”

Asombro’s lungs feel like they’re peeling themselves away, taking his breath with them. “Don’t leave.”

Revelation scoffs as he glares back through the window. “Little late for that.” The glow around him starts to fade, revealing features Asombro never realized he hadn’t seen. Colors shift and flash across his vision, playing against Revelation’s face and Asombro can’t remember whether that’s supposed to happen, whether he should be thinking about the way blue curves under the man’s cheekbones.

“You’re pretty,” Asombro says. It doesn’t come out in the same voice he always uses. It’s not boastful, or bombastic, or accompanied by a smirk and wink. It doesn’t have to be. To him, at least, it rings with truth enough to drown out the flashing noise.

Revelation stares at him, mouth open, and Asombro realizes there was speech a moment ago that’s still stuck in the fuzz around his brain. Revelation seems to realize this at about the same time, and speaks slowly and lightly enough for Asombro to catch each word. “You’re poisoned,” he says. “I know that much. I don’t know what with, or what it’s doing to you. The solanine in the plants is toxic, but it can’t be doing this. But there’s nothing – there’s nothing else in the greenhouse that should be a problem, normally. Inhaling _pollen_ is bad, but it’s not this. You’re sure you don’t remember anything other than the pitcher plant and eggplant flowers?”

“No?” Asombro says, squinting. “No, just that.” Words click past in his brain like the mechanism of a kitchen timer. One dings and his face lights up. “Wait. Those were eggplant?”

“Yes?” Revelation asks in return. “Did she say anything special about them?”

Asombro snorts, laughter bursting out again. “Eggplant!”

“What?” Revelation looks at him like he’s spouted extra limbs – wait, no, he’s seen that happen and Revelation wasn’t nearly this confused about it.

“Eggplant!” Asombro chirps, making something halfway to a descriptive gesture. “Her eggplant got a taste of this ass before yours did.” Revelation’s face goes blank white, and it’s _adorable_ , he wants that face right here, right now. He wiggles closer, doing his best impression of a puppy seeking a belly tub. “Are you jeeeeeaaaaalooooous?”

Revelation stares down at him, expression unchanging. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I’m noooot,” Asombro says, lazily picking up his head and nuzzling it into Revelation’s lap. Suddenly, something twitches against his cheek, and it’s enough for him to at least try to sit up. Moving, though, reveals that Revelation’s gotten hard – a fact he seems none-to-pleased to have revealed.

Asombro swallows. The motion only serves as a reminder of what he could be swallowing instead. He knows something’s wrong, that he should be able to _tell_ what’s wrong, but his brain is so _warm_ …

“Are you happy?” He looks up at Revelation, and there’s _anger_ , no, he doesn’t want that, no anger, _please…_ “Is this what you wanted? To get me hard, here, in a place like this, when we both know you’re incapable of defending yourself?”

Asombro shivers, both from the cold around and the _tone_ Revelation’s taken. Had he come here for that? Is that what he was doing? He can’t _think_ , he can only look and _want_ , and he wants so badly.

Revelation continues, cold and still and _furious_. “I can fuck you into the ground and leave you here for the next person to find. Who knows? Maybe you’ll still have whatever _this_ is in your system, so you’ll beg them to fuck you too, because _you don’t care._ You _can’t_.”

Asombro wants to say something to that, some kind of _no_ , but Revelation’s eyes are pinning him down in a way his hard-light shackles never could. He only draws in a sharp breath and listens to it shake out again.

“I could leave you here to die. I don’t know whether you’d starve or just lose your mind in fever. It would take them some time to get to you, assuming they knew you were here. I melted the door closed when I brought you in.”

It’s not fair, the way the words weigh on him, little points of pure, painless _pressure_. It should be wrong, but he needs, he _needs –_

“But you aren’t thinking about that, are you? No, it’s all about what _you_ want. You can’t help it. It’s feeding on you, now. Could you even say no? Would you listen if I did?”

Asombro nods, furiously, silently. He can stop. He will stop. Whatever Revelation needs from him, just as long as he doesn’t _leave_.

“What will you be like after this? Will you still follow me around like a lovesick pup? Would you work for me, if I saved you?” Revelation’s hand finally reaches down to brush against Asombro’s cheek, and Asombro follows it as easily and desperately as he breathes. “You know things won’t be the same. You’re not that naïve, even if you act like it. What do you want?” Asombro tries to reach for Revelation’s erection, but Revelation’s other hand flashes out to pin his down. “Use your words.”

Asombro chokes, then reaches through his mind to bring back the thought. “A-anything. Anything you will give me.”

“Anything.” Revelation’s expression doesn’t change. “And what do I get back?”

“A-anything,” Asombro says, and he hopes that’s enough, because he doesn’t think he has any words left in him.

Revelation releases his hand. “Fine.” Asombro breathes for a moment before he’s lifted up. He hears – something – and then Revelation has set him down and there’s _skin_ against his face, and he moans into it.

“Suck,” Revelation commands, and he obeys eagerly. Revelation’s cock is thick enough to put the tiniest hint of strain at the sides of his jaw, but the grounded, not-yet-salted taste and drag of skin against his tongue drives everything else from his mind. Thoughtless, he experiences; he runs his tongue past veins and takes it deep enough for the head to brush against and past the back of his throat, deep enough for him to turn an almost-gag into a swallow. Hair tickles against his face as he moves, propping himself up with his legs so that his arms and face can focus on the whole that is _Revelation_ , the weight and stillness and _presence_ of him in the moment. Bent double before him, ass tilted up to meet the air, he moans his praise and gratitude.

It’s not that he doesn’t notice Revelation move around him, but other things simply don’t seem important. That is, not until a finger slips into him, wet and gentle. He stops a moment and breathes, feeling himself being explored, opened up to what could be an intrusion but feels like a homecoming. Another finger joins, and time hangs suspended between Revelation’s shaft and fingertips. _Revelation_.

Words are said, but it doesn’t matter; he needs more. He pushes himself back, fucking himself from both sides as he groans what he hopes sounds like a plea. It works enough, as another finger comes and he can feel where they join and come apart and it feels like he’s coming apart too.

But it’s not _enough._ He raises his mouth from Revelation’s cock, feeling the absence on every tastebud, and babbles something that he can only hope is coherent enough to be begging, because this isn’t the _time_ for questions, he needs, he needs, he _needs._ Revelation takes pity on him, guiding him over his lap until he can sink down onto his dick, feel that length where it _matters_. The stretch is exhilarating, so intense that he has to bite down on a shoulder to hold onto the reality of being _full_. He’s riding Revelation now, chanting his name like a prayer, and it’s all too much –

He can’t say that his mind returns to him, once it’s over. His head is still warm, drifting in still water that washes his thoughts away. But it’s normal, now. He thinks.

Revelation pulls out, moves away. A tiny whimper escapes Asombro as he feels the tip come free and emptiness take its place. “It’s done,” Revelation says, voice dead, as he reassembles himself and starts buttoning up his shirt. “Fever’s breaking. You’ll be fine.”

Asombro’s hands reach out, balling up in that shirt like its the only ship his mind can cling to. “Don’t leave.”

He can’t look, but he can feel Revelation stiffen. “You got what you wanted, didn’t you?” It’s bitter. Not like solanine, or any other plant in the lab, but like hot iron plunged into water between strikes. “You had your fun.”

Asombro shakes his head, mind clearing enough for memory to settle in. “I said anything,” he insists, squeezing ever tighter. “Anything you’ll give me.” A thought comes, fragile and crystalline. “Don’t you still want me? I promised you that, too. That I would do anything.”

Revelation shifts, and Asombro can bury himself in skin until he believes it isn’t leaving. “You shouldn’t have. Someone like Catspaw or Marionette might take you up on that.”

“I didn’t say it to them,” Asombro says, cheek sliding down until he can feel Revelation’s pulse and voice vibrate through him.

“But you did to me,” says Revelation. He doesn’t move, though there’s a momentary twitch that could have been an attempt to. “I’m not like you. I could tell you to do so many terrible things. You shouldn’t trust me like that.”

“But I want to,” Asombro says, curling himself entirely into Revelation’s lap. “Not because of tonight. Or, not just because. But I think I could. Promising that is my choice to make.”

His face is pulled up, and he opens his eyes to see Revelation’s staring back. The man’s pupils flick back and forth, as if he’s tracing every movement Asombro’s make. “Was it?”

Asombro tilts his head, never giving into the temptation to look away. He could, easily. He could turn away, let Revelation go before he got dressed. He could tell himself that he wanted to forget what had happened, or that he was too sick at the time to know what he was doing. It might not be a lie, even.

But he didn’t believe what Revelation had said, earlier. He didn’t believe that he would have taken anyone. That it being Revelation didn’t matter. “It _is_ my choice,” he says, finally.

“Oh,” Revelation says, as he takes Asombro in. “I – Okay.”

Slowly, hesitatingly, he leans down, their lips meeting for what Asombro thinks is the first time. It’s soft and tentative, a simple press together to see how they fit. Revelation’s lips part just enough to let the flat of his teeth brush past before they hastily come together to hide the edge.

Asombro laughs as he pulls back. “It’s okay. I won’t break.” To prove the point, he nips at Revelation’s lower lip and takes advantage of his gasp to move in.

They can figure out the rest later. For now, Asombro simply accepts this for what it is.


End file.
